1/72 Dragon P-61 WIP Finished

Good grief Charlie Brown!

You'll be able to build a second one OOB with the left-over parts!

I'm watching this one.

There's a weathering detail I've always been interested in. The machines that were sent over to my F-in-L's squadron in Italy, November 1944 had duct tape placed all along the joints between the movable control surfaces and the main airframe. When they were debarked and set up, the tape was removed and it took the paint with it. Sound familiar?

In the event it left the usual bright aluminum all along those areas. I'll pm you pictures if you care to see it.

Thanks GM, always thought pulling paint with the tape was a screwup on my part.....now I find it is a weathering tecnique...cool, not as bad off as I thought.

Following along fermis. I built one ages ago and IIRC, the only real issue I saw was a difference in wing thickness between the assembled wing and the molded fairing on the fuselage. Could have been me or my kit though.

Hey Fermis! When did you get bionic eyes? Cuz you’re going to need them for all that detail!

This is one of my favorite planes, but I don’t really know why. I’ll be keeping an eye on this build. Good luck!

OHHHH Fermis!!!! I am sooooo looking forward to seeing this one come together!!! I have the same kit and Eduard Interior and Exterior PE sets and the same Quickboost engines. That however, is as far as I wanted to go, the moment I realized I had spent more on accesories than what I payed for the kit LOL. Hope all goes well with her.

GM what squadron was your F in L a part of? I have a couple books on the P-61 and want to see if anything is mentioned. You told me a few years ago but I've slept since then lol. What did he do?

Man, lookit all those goodies !  Be watching this one for sure.  I never was a fan of the P-61 until Toshi built his.Now I wanna build one too.

I definitely want to see what you do with all of those goodies!!

Glad to have you all along for the ride...one of these days...I'll actually get started!

RadMax8

Hey Fermis! When did you get bionic eyes? Cuz you’re going to need them for all that detail!

I was born with em! They really are amazing!!!

I know I'm gonna pay the price though...I'll be stricken blind by the time I'm 50!

Bill...one of the P-61 books I have, has a segment showing the panels taped up, as well as the resluts from peeling the tape away. All set there...thanks though!

simpilot34

GM what squadron was your F in L a part of? I have a couple books on the P-61 and want to see if anything is mentioned. You told me a few years ago but I've slept since then lol. What did he do?

 

Tunisia, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy.

Beaufighters and P-61s. It's interesting that they kept their Beaus running for years with maintenance and rebuilds, but when they broke a P-61 they were just issued a new one.

Staff Sergeant, Mechanic School, Crew Chief and gunner.

Hey Femis,

Man oh man....how many trips did it take you to carry in all those goodies? LOL I will be along for this one for sure. Enjoy sir.

GMorrison

 

414th, 12th AF.

 

Tunisia, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy.

Beaufighters and P-61s. It's interesting that they kept their Beaus running for years with maintenance and rebuilds, but when they broke a P-61 they were just issued a new one.

Staff Sergeant, Mechanic School, Crew Chief and gunner.

Cool thanks!!! Will have a look. Was he assigned to one particular aircraft?

I'm working on the 1/48 version myself. But you are "pounding " in 4 times the detail in half the size!

I will be following...... with my Optivisor on at all time's.

Gettin somewhere with this one, finally!

Interior is finished up...used some kit parts, some from the resin set and some from the PE sets, and scratched up new gun barrels with aluminum tubing...

I added some lead sheet to the bottom of the floor, just aft of the gear bay, as well as a little on the rear bulkhead. I'm sure I'll need to add more between the IP and radar.

Nice start as always fermis.  The interior details look fantastic.

You friend Toshi

I like it! You guys have converted me to 72nd even though I used to swear it off!

simpilot34

 

GMorrison

 

414th, 12th AF.

 

Tunisia, Sardinia, Corsica, Italy.

Beaufighters and P-61s. It's interesting that they kept their Beaus running for years with maintenance and rebuilds, but when they broke a P-61 they were just issued a new one.

Staff Sergeant, Mechanic School, Crew Chief and gunner.

 

 

 

 

Cool thanks!!! Will have a look. Was he assigned to one particular aircraft?

 

GM, had a look at my books and the 414th was credited with 5 kills in total.

Jones/Rudovsky        1 Me-410, 1 Ju-88, 1Ju-87

Goodrich/Lane          1 Ju-88

Greenfield/Swartz      1 Ju-52

In another I have it lists the Jones crew with two, other two crews same but also adds DeForrest(G)/ Lutz(P)/ Morrisette(R/O) with one.

Fantastic job! I’t always amazes me the level of detail that you get in your 1/72’s. It always looks like your working on a larger scale

Outstanding work in the cockpit there Fermis, that looks great, Ill be watching this one.

Nice work!

Great work!

Donkeyshorts, dudes!

Had this one back on the bench for the last few days...

Wing intakes replaced with PE and some plastic "trunking"...

PE and plastic added to main gear bays...

Rudders and elevator removed, re-worked, and reattached with some deflection...

The canopies are all molded closed....NOPE!

Smash-molded new sections...

I masked the new parts, and cut off what was not needed. Carefully (tediously!) cut the kit parts open.

I also ran a rivet wheel over it all!

As she is right now. 

Looking good 

This is amazing work!

Super, Jeremy.

Sweet! Those ducts look great. How was the wing root fit? I assume it will have the frosted nose? I will have to try this smash molding process of your one day.

Thanks guys!

Jester75

Sweet! Those ducts look great. How was the wing root fit? I assume it will have the frosted nose? I will have to try this smash molding process of your one day.

 

Initially, the fit is god awful. Very simple fix though...there was a little "tab" on the forward/inner flap, that held the wing from fitting(at the step from the fuselage wing root to the inner flap)...I just cut off what was in the way...good fit, top and bottom at the wingroot.

Looking good.  You're a brave man with that much PE.  That would kill me.

fermis

Thanks guys!

 

 

Jester75

Sweet! Those ducts look great. How was the wing root fit? I assume it will have the frosted nose? I will have to try this smash molding process of your one day.

 

 

 

 

Initially, the fit is god awful. Very simple fix though...there was a little "tab" on the forward/inner flap, that held the wing from fitting(at the step from the fuselage wing root to the inner flap)...I just cut off what was in the way...good fit, top and bottom at the wingroot.

 

That’s awesome! I think I saw somewhere that Dragon was re-releasing this very boxing. May have to give it another go as I’ve always like the Widow.